Kevin Pittsnogle

Infobox NBA Player
name = Kevin Pittsnogle


caption =
league = NBDL
position = Power Forward/Center
height_ft = 6
height_in = 11
weight_lb = 240
birth_date = birth date and age|1984|7|30
birth_place = Martinsburg, West Virginia
team = Albuquerque Thunderbirds
college = West Virginia
highschool = Martinsburg High School
draft = Undrafted
draft_year = 2006
draft_team =
career_start = 2006
former_teams = Boston Celtics (2006) NBA
Pittsburgh Xplosion (2006–2007) CBA
Albuquerque Thunderbirds (2007) NBDL
Cholet Basket (2007) French Pro A
Austin Toros (2007–2008) NBDL
awards = 2003 Big East All-Rookie Team
2003 Big East Academic All-Star

Kevin Lee Pittsnogle Jr. (born July 30, 1984 in Martinsburg, West Virginia) Power Forward/Center of the Albuquerque Thunderbirds of the NBDL. Pittsnogle formerly played for the Pittsburgh Xplosion of the Continental Basketball Association. [ [http://www.pittsburghxplosion.com/pr/pr110806.htm http://www.pittsburghxplosion.com/pr/pr110806.htm] ] , the Austin Toros of the NBDL, and the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association.

College career

Pittsnogle saw good action as a freshman, particularly against Rutgers when he posted a West Virginia eight-best rookie record 26 points. He also added 24 points against Syracuse and a career-high nine rebounds.

Until late in the 2004-2005 season, Pittsnogle primarily came off the bench for the Mountaineers. However, on February 3, 2005 (coincidentally, the birthday of former Mountaineers head coach John Beilein), starting center D'or Fischer came down with a cold and was unable to play against Pitt. Beilein replaced Fischer in the starting lineup with Pittsnogle, who proceeded to score 27 points in an upset of the Panthers. He remained in the starting lineup for the rest of the season, and quickly came to the forefront during the 2005 NCAA Tournament, when he scored 22 points and grabbed 8 rebounds in a victory against Texas Tech in the Sweet 16 round, and then scored 25 points (on 9-for-15 shooting) and grabbed 5 rebounds in a 93-85 overtime loss to Louisville.

On May 3, 2005, Pittsnogle declared for the 2005 NBA Draft. He did not hire an agent, which meant that he still had the option to reverse his decision. On June 10, he decided to withdraw from the draft and return to WVU for his senior year.

His collegiate career came to an end following a 74-71 loss to Texas in the Sweet 16 of the 2006 NCAA Tournament. Pittsnogle, having just returned from a bloody nose, tied the game with 5 seconds remaining with a three-pointer, but Texas guard Kenton Paulino hit a three pointer at the buzzer for the win.

Pittsnogle has the 6th most points in a career (1,708), the 2nd best 3-point field goal percentage in a career (41.1%), the 25th most rebounds in a career (563), the most games played in a career (128) and the ninth most games started in a career (105) in school history.

Professional career

To the surprise of many West Virginia basketball fans and draft enthusiasts, neither Pittsnogle nor his teammate shooting guard Mike Gansey were chosen by any of the teams in the 2006 NBA Draft. Although Pittsnogle was predicted in most mock drafts as being chosen in the early-to-mid second round, he went undrafted and thus became a free agent. On July 25, 2006, Pittsnogle signed a two-year contract with the Boston Celtics. On October 20, 2006 the Celtics waived Pittsnogle. [ [http://www.nba.com/celtics/news/notes/notes102006-waivers.html http://www.nba.com/celtics/news/notes/notes102006-waivers.html] ] On November 8, 2006, Pittsnogle signed with the CBA's Pittsburgh Xplosion. [ [http://www.pittsburghxplosion.com/pr/pr110806.htm http://www.pittsburghxplosion.com/pr/pr110806.htm] ]

Pittsnogle was then announced to the CBA All-Star game on February 6, after posting 23.5 points per game. Pittsnogle currently holds the CBA single-game record for points scored with 44, which he accomplished earlier in his rookie season. On March 9, 2007 the Xplosion placed him on the team's Inactive Reserve List due to tendinitis in his non-shooting elbow. [ [http://mlntherawfeed.squarespace.com/basketball-transactions/2007/3/13/pittsburgh-xplosion-place-kevin-pittsnogle-on-inactive-reserve-list-cba.html http://mlntherawfeed.squarespace.com/basketball-transactions/2007/3/13/pittsburgh-xplosion-place-kevin-pittsnogle-on-inactive-reserve-list-cba.html] ] Even with the injury, Pittsnogle was considered to be a leading candidate for the CBA's Rookie of the Year as he was averaging 19.4 points per game and 6.2 rebounds per game while shooting 86.8% from the free throw line.

Pittsnogle played for the NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers on their 2007 Summer League team in early July 2007. On July 23, 2007 Pittsnogle signed with French Pro A league team Cholet Basket [ [http://www.lnb.fr/index.php?pid=50&id_article=11306&cursor_start=0 http://www.lnb.fr/index.php?pid=50&id_article=11306&cursor_start=0] ] , but was cut one week before the start of the season.

Pittsnogle was selected 12th overall by the NBA Development League's Austin Toros in the 2007 NBDL draft. [ [http://www.draftexpress.com/article/2007-D-League-Draft/ http://www.draftexpress.com/article/2007-D-League-Draft/] ]

Pittsnogle was waived by Austin on January 9, 2008 due to injury. He was picked up by the Albuquerque Thunderbirds on January 13, 2008. [ [http://www.nba.com/dleague/dleague/transactions.html http://www.nba.com/dleague/dleague/transactions.html] ]

Awards and accomplishments

* Big East Academic All-Star
* Finalist for the 2003 USA Basketball Junior World Championship team
* Named to 2007 CBA All-Star Team
* Named to 2007 CBA All Rookie Team

References

* [http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/columns/story?columnist=forde_pat&id=2323119 "WVU: The A-10's loss is nation's gain" Pat Forde, ESPN.com, February 8, 2006] (story includes information on Pittsnogle)
* [http://www.wboy.com/story.cfm?func=viewstory&storyid=11915 Shocking Night for WVU at the NBA Draft]

Notes

External links

* [http://www.msnsportsnet.com/profile.cfm?id=100223 College profile]
* [http://www.PittsburghXplosion.com/ Pittsburgh Xplosion profile]